Isabella Valancy Crawford National Historic Person (1850-1887)

Illustration en noir et blanc du portrait d'une femme
Portrait of Isabelle Valancy Crawford, circa 1800
© Toronto Public Library / Baldwin Collection of Canadiana / Public Domain

Isabella Valancy Crawford was designated as a national historic person in 1947.

Historical importance: Poet and writer. She is best remembered for her long poems "Malcolm's Katie" and "Old Spookses' Pass".

Commemorative plaque: Millenium Park, on bank of Otonabee River near City Hall Peterborough, OntarioFootnote 1

Isabella Valancy Crawford (1850-1887)

Irish-born, Isabella Crawford came to Canada as a young girl and eventually settled in Peterborough. Following her father's death in 1875 she supported her family through writing, and published articles, fiction and poetry in Toronto and New York journals. She later moved to Toronto to further her career and there gained modest success. Although largely unknown in her short lifetime, her reputation has steadily grown so that she is considered to be one of the finest Canadian poets of her generation. She is best remembered for her long poems "Malcolm's Katie" and "Old Spookses' Pass".

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
English plaque inscription

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